In the prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,253 issued Nov. 29, 1960 to Junis T. Moore, Jr. and having a common assignee to this application, namely, The Moore Company of Charleston, W. Va., there is disclosed a system for storing clothing and/or other articles by utilizing a receptacle such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,620,074 issued Dec. 2, 1952 to Junis T. Moore, Jr. and also assigned to the common assignee. The receptacle is supported on the end of a link chain and passes over a pulley arrangement fixed to an overhead support member and then passes downwardly and has its other end attached to fixed attachment means which is positioned within reach of a person. In the system shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,253, when the link chain is fully extended it has a length sufficient to support the receptacle within range of a person. However, the link chain may be pulled downwardly to elevate the receptacle, the chain having an enlarged locking link thereon which is detachably received by and locked to the attachment means so as to support the receptacle in an elevated position out of range of the person. This type of system has found widespread use in locker rooms of industrial and manufacturing plants for hanging clothes and storing articles such as shoes, helmets or the like where it is desirable to provide a clean and airy locker room with a maximum of floor space. While the system disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,253 has found widespread use throughout industrial and manufacturing plants, it is not entirely satisfactory at this time because of the increasing demands for safety in all phases of operation.
In view of safety standards set up by various municipal, state and federal governments in recent years, the system such as described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,253 was substantially improved by the use of safety pulleys such as disclosed in the copending U.S. application Ser. No. 658,051 filed Feb. 13, 1976 by Junis Thomas Moore and also assigned to the Moore Company, Inc. In application Ser. No. 658,051, the use of a safety pulling member prevented sudden dropping of the weighted article or receptacle by a sudden relaxing of tension in the link chain or by failure of the link chain between the safety pulley member and the fixed attachment means. While the invention of application Ser. No. 658,051 has materially enhanced the safety of systems such as disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,253, there still remains a possibility of the link chain breaking between the pulley means and the fixed attachment means, especially in the area where the locking link was positioned. In the distribution of these systems, the manufacturer supplies sufficient length of chain for various elevations of overhead support means and further supplies an open locking link. When the system is installed in a plant, the personnel in the field cut the link chain at the plant where the locking link was to be installed and then the locking link was installed and closed and supposedly welded. However, oftentimes personnel in the field would fail to weld the link and merely close the link or if they did weld the link, the weld was a faulty weld due to the inexperience of personnel installing such links. When the enlarged locking link had a faulty weld or when the enlarged locking link was not welded, it oftentimes would open due to rough handling thus causing the weighted article to radidly drop to the floor and possibly injure personnel. Additionally, by having a locking link which was not welded, the system was not fully tamper proof as someone could perhaps open the locking link and thus obtain access to the stored articles.